HP40 and LRC/Stone Fort
Today is the
New Year and I
find myself
counting down
the days to our
big trip to
Australia. I
feel the end of
our North
American tour as
we drive away
from our brief
visit to Mexico.
It’s only 6
weeks before all
of my thoughts
will be consumed
with the next
phase of our
trip. For now, I
reflect on the
end of last
year’s travels.
After the Red River Gorge, Mike and I headed south with a brief visit to two local climbing areas: Horse Pens 40 in Steele, Alabama and Little Rock City in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Horse Pens 40 was amazing. Upon arriving, it’s hard to miss the dramatic change in landscape. The boulders appear as if placed there. Problems surround and are surrounded within a dense area that thins back and off to the sides. At the front is an impressive set of towering rock that looked to me like the gateway to the area. Boasting fountainbleu-esque flat, sandy landings and bulbous features on sandstone rock, this truly was a bouldering playground! Little Rock City was completely different with sharp and crimpy features and boulders set in along the tree line above the last hole on a golf course.
I climbed very
little at Horse
Pens
40 but Mike
and friends
Kenny and Nate
made an evening
out of it by bouldering by
headlamp until
late into the
night--it was a
5 attempt limit
with the goal to
send every
problem v5 and
lower! I climbed
quite a few
problems in
Little Rock
City, most
notably sending
my first V9 and
flashing my
first V7.
